We're like Chuck Norris bringing in a triple roundhouse kick to your face so fast you have to take a minute or two to realize your mind has just been blown. Issue #64 is a new dawn, and quite appropriately marks the 3rd anniversary of the Dispatch! First, we have shiny new graphics courtesy of recent addition to the Entertainment Team and mapmaker extraordinaire, DiM! Second, the new Office of Strategic Services premieres with a few articles I think you'll enjoy (along with an extensive, analytical introduction, thanks to now-Strategy Reporter, DoomYoshi) Third, Leehar and his Clan Team has put together a fun contest for Clan League Season 4 with a plethora of premium to be won (up to 15 months!) - check out the "Friendly Fire" section under the Platoon Report! If you have questions or comments regarding the new graphics or Strategy section, feel free to post them in the issue thread!

But no, no, no, we certainly aren't done yet! It's time for the Subscriber of the Issue! And our featured Subscriber is none other than former Social Media Contributor, squishyg! PM me the name of the Strategy Reporter whose article you liked most, and a General Achievement medal is yours!

Of course, we're not all flash and glamor (though we are quite glamorous ) - we have a quality issue for you all, from a little tango with the Civil War with DoomYoshi to Doodle Assassins with crazymilkshake5 to a historical anniversary article from Dukasaur to more Foundry News with koontz1973 to clan rankings with Gunn217!

Hello again Freestylers, we have an article with some backstory about the American Civil War, an Ask A Mod from Sully, and an interview with SoC mod, dhallmeyer. He talks about California, troublesome students, and coffee.

trinicardinal wrote:Why does the name of the Off-Topics Forum change so often?

Why, thanks for asking, trinicardinal! The name of the Off-Topics forum changes every three months, as determined by a popular vote by participating mods (and admin ). So, blame all of us mods if you hate the name (or those of us that voted for the name ). Basically, mods (and admin) make suggestions, then we vote for the ones we like

As for the new name, "Atmospheric Noise", Conquer Club gets its dice number from the site, random.org, which uses, you guessed it, atmospheric noise to determine the random numbers (as atmospheric noise is apparently random - real random). Or maybe we're simply making a statement about Off-Topics posters? Ha.

What has been your favorite Off-Topics forum name? Let me know in the comments of the issue thread! My favorites include Schrodinger's Catbox and Social Lounge II

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Ask A Mod! I can always use some more questions in the Ask A Mod! thread, so stop on by to ask anything you like, from questions about Conquer Club to TeamCC to maps to tournaments to clans to suggestions to C&A cases...to whatever!

My favorite part of Conquer Club are the historical maps. True, from a storytelling perspective, generic location maps are better (Istanbul for instance, can be used to simulate the Fall of Constantinople in 1453). However, a good historical map with clearly defined settings are always special to me.

Now for many of these maps, the setting may be fuzzy in people's minds. I certainly had never heard of the Battle of Actium before playing on CC. I would like to flesh out the setting, bringing greater vibrancy and a fuller appreciation of not only the maps we are lucky enough to have, but some of the ones we don't have.

I want to start with the first modern war. That's right, the American Civil War. I do this not out of blind patriotism or to further attempt to shove American history down the throats of the rest of the world, but out of sheer respect for the magnitude of warfare.

Now I want you to look at the map:

This is a map of the beginning of the war. Our story takes place much later. Gen. Jackson has already died of pneumonia. Beauregard iss now defending North Carolina. Lee has already lost Gettysburg and is now involved in the siege of Petersburg (Virginia).

Our story takes place immediately after the Army of Tennessee (commanded by John Bell Hood) retreats from Atlanta, Georgia. William Tecumseh Sherman, as part of his scorched earth policy, decides to evacuate all civilians from Atlanta. Gone with the Wind can give you the non-military portrayal of this event. The following is the first correspondence between Sherman and Hood.

HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI,In the Field, Atlanta, Ga., September 7, 1864.

General HOOD,Commanding Confederate Army:

GENERAL: I have deemed it to the interest of the United States that the citizens now residing in Atlanta should remove, those who prefer it to go South and the rest North. For the latter I can provide food and transportation to points of their election in Tennessee, Kentucky, or farther north. For the former I can provide transportation by cars as far as Rough and Ready, and also wagons; but that their removal may be made with as little discomfort as possible it will be necessary for you to help the families from Rough and Ready to the cars at Lovejoy's. If you consent I will undertake to remove all families in Atlanta who prefer to go South to Rough and Ready, with all their movable effects, viz, clothing, trunks, reasonable furniture, bedding, &c., with their servants, white and black, with the proviso that no force shall be used toward the blacks one way or the other. If they want to go with their masters or mistresses they may do so, otherwise they will be sent away, unless they be men, when they may be employed by our quartermaster. Atlanta is no place for families or non-combatants and I have no desire to send them North if you will assist in conveying them South. If this proposition meets your views I will consent to a truce in the neighborhood of Rough and Ready, stipulating that any wagons, horses, or animals, or persons sent there for the purposes herein stated shall in no manner be harmed or molested, you in your turn agreeing that any cars, wagons, carriages, persons, or animals sent to the same point shall not be interfered with. Each of us might send a guard of, say, 100 men to maintain order, and limit the truce to, say, two days after a certain time appointed. I have authorized the mayor to choose two citizens to convey to you this letter and such documents as the mayor may forward in explanation, and shall await your reply.

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,W. T. SHERMAN,Major-General, Commanding.

Sherman did not have to wait long for a reply:

HDQRS. ARMY OF TENNESSEE, OFFICE CHIEF OF STAFF,September 9, 1864.

Maj. Gen. W. T. SHERMAN.Commanding U.S. Forces in Georgia:

GENERAL: Your letter of yesterday's date [7th] borne by James M. Ball and James R. Crew, citizens of Atlanta, is received. You say therein "I deem it to be to the interest of the United States that the citizens now residing in Atlanta should remove," &c. I do not consider that I have any alternative in this matter. I therefore accept your proposition to declare a truce of two days, or such time as may be necessary to accomplish the purpose mentioned, and shall render all assistance in my power to expedite the transportation of citizens in this direction. I suggest that a staff officer be appointed by you to superintend the removal from the city to Rough and Ready, while I appoint a like officer to control their removal farther south; that a guard of 100 men be sent by either party, as you propose, to maintain order at that place, and that the removal begin on Monday next. And now, sir, permit me to say that the unprecedented measure you propose transcends, in studied and ingenious cruelty, all acts ever before brought to my attention in the dark history of war. In the name of God and humanity I protest, believing that you will find that you are expelling from their homes and firesides the wives and children of a brave people.

What exactly do you do as Team Leader?I oversee the operations of the Academy. I add and remove students, teach in the Training Fields, develop new teachers, and work on streamlining our program.

What are you in charge of?Everything. We try to divvy up the tasks but ultimately it comes back to me to make sure it gets done.

Do you still teach like the other teachers?I do. I wish I could spend more time in the Training Fields than I do, but it seems like the time I have is better suited to helping our staff help many students, instead of just me helping a few students. Sort of a multiplier effect.

What are your thoughts about the whole institution of the SoC Training Grounds?I'm a huge fan. We help folks get acquainted with the way the site works so that they can get what they want out of it.

When the teachers get together and play a classic esc. game, who usually wins?Me, of course. We actually played a series of games recently between the grads and the Academy staff, and it was pretty even.

What aspires you or inspires you to serve in Conquer Club?I teach because I was taught. Wacichafound me wandering around here without a clue and showed me how to make it fun. I enjoy sharing that experience with others.

Do you find serving in Conquer Club, really highly rewarding or just worth it?Yes. Most of the time it is very rewarding to see the students "get" what we're teaching and then they start to soar. I still remember macbonewas one of the first students I taught. There are many tasks that go along with the job, and sometimes that starts to feel like work, but overall I'm glad to be a part of the Academy.

Can you say if Conquer Club contributed anything positive to your Character in general and if so What?Hmm, I don't think so. When I first found the site, I was looking for a place to blow off steam and play a game I liked, and that's what it still is for me, in many ways.

Why the name Society of Cooks when you take all ranks?I'm not really sure. I didn't create it, wacicha did. I'll have to ask. I think, back in the dark ages when we were just a quiet little usergroup, the focus was on finding cooks and showing them the ropes. I joined as a cadet.

Does the classic map make the best training map?Yes. Mostly because it's simple and familiar. Once a student has mastered our program, most other maps are easy to pick up.

Why do you use a map with two territ names on? (London E2)Ah, another vestige from the dark ages. Before we had our current classic map, there were several revisions related to legal issues. One of the maps only had the two digit code and we found it was really easy to teach with. When the current map came on, we asked to have our members see both the code and the regular name.

How did you first get involved with the Society of the Cooks?When I first joined the site, I stunk. I didn't know how to join the right games, or where to find help. I scoured the Strategy forums and kept hearing about this mysterious "Society of the Cooks." So I asked wacicha, the founder of the group, if I could join and he let me. Lots of water under the bridge since then.

What made you want to be a teacher?2 things. 1, I've always been good at teaching others. 2, I really appreciated the time that my teachers had put into training me.

What are your favorite maps and settings?I make my living on Classic, 6 player escalating no fog. That's my bread and butter. I usually have 1 or 2 World 2.1 no spoils going, and right now I'm trying to figure out Pelopponesian War (3 player escalating is my favorite.

What is the single greatest challenge of leading the SoC Training Academy?Balance. Trying to make sure we're honoring the faith our students put in us, but still taking time to do the things I enjoy.

What is the greatest benefit?Seeing the students get to the point where they are mastering the program and taking my points.

What would you say are the biggest differences between playing Escalating and No Spoils?They are very similar at times. Both require lots of practice and patience to know the right time to strike. Escalating takes longer to develop, but things tend to happen quickly toward the end while no spoils can shift back and forth many times over the course of a game.

Want to play doubs sometime?Only if you're in the mood to donate.

Is it true that you want to change the teaching map to Stalingrad?That would be interesting, wouldn't it?

How many SoC teachers does it take to screw on a lightbulb?Never tried. We'll have to look into that one.

Is it true that you actually played a game with wacicha? Which one of you would win in a fistfight?Yes I played a few with him. I would probably win because I'm younger and in better shape than the last time I saw him. Then again, age + guile beats youth + strength 6 days a week and twice on Sunday.

What do you when you're not online?Work, eat, sleep, read. My life is pretty simple right now. Gave up golf a couple years ago. I'm married, and we have 6 kiddos and another on the way. So time is spent on my family a lot.

Do you wish they all could be California girls?So many directions to take that one. No idea. I did marry a CA girl, and I think I'll keep her.

What's better, peyote or pot?Wouldn't know.

Who's your favourite singer? Actor? Comedian?Don't have one. I like lots of different styles, all in their season.

How did you get such a silly name?Back at ya! Total lack of imagination on my part.

If you had the choice of taking O first turn and be called a bonus monkey would you still do it?Yup. I wouldn't try to take E in an escalating game though. I actually dropped 5/7 there once in a teachers' game and strongly considered it, but the brainwashing is complete; I couldn't let myself try.

Are the dice really rigged?It feels that way sometimes. I wish we could see the defensive dice that others get. Might make it feel more fair.

Why doesn't SOC strategy work on the RISK board game?It does. I win about half of my table games since I joined the SoC. It is harder because the table-talk aspect has to be considered.

Who was the worst student ever...no names of course...but come on there has to be at least one?I block those out. Very rarely do we have problem children.

Do most people listen or are they out for a medal?The ones who want to learn stick around, but the ones chasing medals tend to fade. It's not an easy medal to earn.

Why has the food at school of the cooks gotten so bad since you took over?I only know fried eggs and pancakes.

How has SOC changed from the early days to now?We've gotten a lot bigger, and added a team-teaching dept.

What sort of salary do you get paid for the responsibility you take on?Warm fuzzies.

Whats the easiest way to cheat?Don't know. any suggestions?

In your own words, please tell us what makes you think that you are the best person for this job?One word, attrition. j/k. It's a leadership position with means my job is mostly about helping my people help their people.

What previous "Dispatch" experience, if any, do you currently have?I worked for 2 different newspapers while I was in high school.

What would you do first/second if you were to observe a fellow employee preforming an unsafe activity?Hmm, don't have any fellow employees. Hard to say.

What would your first step in disciplining an unruly student?First, we try to make sure the student understands what we're doing and what they can get out of it. Often it's a case of misunderstanding at the outset.

Do you have anything else you'd like to add?Big thanks to all the teaching staff that makes the world go 'round.

If you had a choice between any CC mod position and SoC position, which would you choose and why?I like it where I am.

When you play instructors games vs students, do you go for the win ? or do you play inactive? I always play for the win. anything less would be uncivilized.

And exactly where is "the un-nutty part of CA"? I didn't know such a place existed.SF, LA, and Sac are all too kooky for me. I'm almost exactly halfway between them.

How would you characterize your leadership style?Maybe you should answer this, macbone. I believe in training, then delegating.Many hand make light work, only if we're all working together.

If you could make any changes you wanted in Conquer Club or the SoC Training Academy, what would they be?Always have games ready for me but never miss turns.

What do you like on a pizza?No anchovies or pineapple. Other than that, I'm somewhat adventurous.

What's your favorite beverage?Dr pepper.

How long you foresee yourself being a mod?Hopefully a long time. Life changes are the only reason I can see leaving in the near future, but there aren't any on the horizon.

Did you vote for Schwarzenegger?Not the first time. I liked McClintock. I may have voted for him the second time as the lesser of two weevils. Can't remember.

Q. What is your response to the accusation that the Society of Cooks is merely a well-crafted ruse for farming inexperienced players?Hadn't heard that one. It's amusing to say the least, since most of our staff never gets above major for long. We donate lots of points.

Q. Why "Train a Cook today, lose to a Sergeant tomorrow?" Why not "lose to a Colonel"? Hmmmm?Don't know, the phrase has been around longer than I have. Just guessing, I'd say that our goal is to give students enough know-how and confidence to get out of cook-land and up around 1500. Our system can do that if they stick with it. I haven't seen many folks get past major while playing public 6-player escalating games, which is what we emphasize.

Q. Is it true that in order to be an SoC instructor, one has to best you in a 7-game 1v1 match on World 2.1?No, but maybe we should look into that. Might be a good way to donate some of my points back.

Q. Did you pick up my (macbone) dry cleaning?Yes, and I shipped it on a sailboat.

Q. When's the next all-you-can-eat ribs and wings SoC extravaganza? (I (macbone) know you said my invitation got lost in the mail the last five times, but I'd really like to make it for this year's.)It's in the mail. Not my fault you live in HK.

Q. So.. how is my (anonymus) acceptance as a graduate going? Pending.

Q. When do we see some answers to all our questions ? How bout now?

Q. When you teach someone who's a low rank, do you relate to any of the issues they might be having?Absolutely. I joined the Society of the Cooks (that's what we used to call it) as a private with less than 10 games completed and had no idea what was going on around me. Wacicha brought me in and showed me how to have fun with the site.

Q. How much do you still learn being a seasoned vet of cc?I have a standing goal to get positive on every map. -1000 on doodle makes that interesting, but I enjoy figuring out new maps and which game type works best for each one.

Q. Is your name related to the Dallmayr coffee, in other words the greatest German coffee in human existence...? Doubtful, but a share of the ownership might be nice.

Q. If you were going to be stuck on a deserted island, what would your bring with you?A deck of cards...As soon as you start playing solitaire, someone is bound to show up and correct you.

Q. If you were going to be stuck on a deserted island, who CC'ers would you want...or not want...with you? Depends on whether or not we've got a certain game with us that shall remain nameless.

Q. Was the anger of Achilleus directed at the body of Hektor in anyway caused by a bonus monkey?Could be, I'll look into it.

Welcome to the newest section of the newsletter! Now, strategy writing is perfect casual reading. By it's very nature, anything written here is of a timeless nature. That doesn't mean you can put off reading this section. Strategies can, and do, evolve. So you will need to follow along to keep on top of the current zeitgeist. In this week's article, we have a continuation of my old column, random game analysis. Also, crazymilkshake5 has asked some selected AssDoodlers about the strategy inherent in that type of game. Of course, this starts the age-old debate. Is there strategy in AssDoodling?

To answer that question, we must know what strategy means. There are many different ways to define strategy, but there is one main way to define it in terms of Conquer Club: Game Theory. The concept of strategy in game theory can be boiled down to one main concept: can the choices a player makes affect the outcome of the game?

Let's examine a heavy assdoodling (8-players with nukes). What would happen if a player were to move randomly? As in, their deployments, assaults, advancements, reinforcements and whether or not to cash were all random. Clearly, that player would have a reduced chance of winning. If your target is on Sarah Desert and you instead assault Conga, you are obviously wasting a move. What's worse, is that you might kill another player's target and make some very angry players. So, we have identified that there is at least some strategy.

Now, that doesn't actually tell us much though. Ok, so moving randomly doesn't work, but you already knew that. How can we test how much strategy there is? One way is to compare different strategies. Let's say player A decides to sit and not assault until he can make a clear run on his target and player B decides to attack non-stop en route to his target. Which one is more effective? I don't have the answer for that, but it seems the more commonly successful strategy is all-out assault. So, now we have identified that some strategies have different outcomes than others.

So, in step 1 (comparing moving randomly to non-randomly), we identified that strategy (if only as an abstract concept) does in fact exist. In step 2 (comparing different strategies to each other) we identified that specific strategies existed, although we would have to calculate statistics to see if one works over another. The main reason doodle earth is not considered strategical is that there are very few options. The total number of possible strategies is very limited, but there is some strategy, as there is in every game on Conquer Club.

Next time, I will cover the military definition of strategy and answer another age-old question: what is the difference between strategy and tactics?

Special thanks to Victor Sullivan for letting me write the intro to his new baby of a section!

No, thank you, DoomYoshi In addition, our very first Strategy Team recruit, Viceroy63, talks about the dilemma of cashing spoils in Escalating games - a great read for all of you subscribed to the SoC Training Grounds! I hope you enjoy this brand new section as we have enjoyed putting it together for you

So you need a few tips and tricks for the notorious Doodle Assassin? Well you've come to the right place!In this article were going to cover, if they are Straight up luck, all strategy or a mix of both.

1. Do you think doodle assassins are Sheer luck, Strategy, or a little of both?

mr. CD wrote:In my opinion, there's mostly luck needed to win one game, but to win a lot, you have to be good, so strategy is way more important.

sdh wrote:I would say mostly luck. I don't think there is much strategy to it but you have a much better chance if you're paying attention and have quick reactions.

2. When going into a doodle assassin do you have a set plan?

c c wrote:Little of both - depending on automatic placement .but there is some strategy behind deploying your troops ie if you have troops in more Russia and Austria and your opponent is on Arabia and Canada then your placement of troops should be on more Russia due to some one needing to get trough Arabia to get to his opponent and you can hit Canada from more Russia and hold off the other opponents from taking out your opponent in Arabia giving you more time to get to your target but all this depends on the game ie automatic placement speed , fog ect,.

3. Say your in Andy's mountains, and your target has one territory in Arabia, is the game over for you? can you win? can you reason with people to help you get to your target? (i.e asking them to move their hoards)

sdh wrote:No way is it over! Just be patient and see what happen's, things start to open up the longer the game goes on. You can try and reason with people but most of the time I get ignored

4. Is suiciding into your target a valid Strategy in Doodle assassins?

mr. CD wrote:Suiciding into your target is reasonable, yes. Since it's assassin, that might very well give you the game. If you fail, people won't be happy about it, but well, that's not the reason why you play it, you play it to win it.

c c wrote:no and you will get foed if you do so because you ruin the game for the others ....now you can hit a target with the same amount of troops and roll the dice that is acceptable

The first thing one might notice is the solitary piece of chat. Nothing stellar or deep. A simple assessment of the game: "very strong game all thx". I hope we are in for a treat. This is the first time a non-1v1 game has appeared in Random Game Analysis with no filters on. That gives cause for anticipation. Unfortunately, the poster of this solitary piece is a cook now, so the comment itself is suspect. Was it a very strong game all? Well, that's what we're here to find out.

Arms Race is very clearly designed to be a 1v1 or team map. So, multiplayer games on it are always that much more interesting. In this case, the winning player deviated substantially from the [Official] strategy on this map. Now, the official strategy has always been one I disagreed with, so I like when players don't follow it and still win. For a simple rundown of the official strategy: focus on one side of the map, build bonuses, stack, go up the missile, bombard. I have no specific problem with this order except the very first step. I think abandoning one side of the map is silly, and only when your hand is forced should you resort to the missile.

Early on, the winner (yellow) focused on getting bunkers: A wise choice. There was no fog, so the other players would know what was going on, but those extra 2 troops can really add up, especially in the midgame. Now, the deviation from official strategy came during turn 2, when yellow decided to go for a second bunker. Now yellow was correct in the sense that both bunker 1s are better than either bunker 2. However, since there were 4 players in this game, this caused yellow to be spread too thin.

You might be wondering what is happening to the other players during this. Well, blue took a uranium (potentially the best bonus), but then missed 3 turns and was gone. Red completely followed the accepted dogma and started building USSR heavily. By round 3, yellow was already convinced that he should abandon USSR, so I guess yellow ended up following basic strategic protocol. Green was perhaps the oddest player in the bunch, as green went right away to start building on the missiles.

So, we have a 3-way split here. Yellow is centered around the USA, red in the USSR and green in the USSR missile. Since it was escalating, it ended up being a quick arms race slugfest that we all have all come to love and expect but with one difference. Instead of fighting through neutrals to get through to a bonus, red had to fight through another player. This fact, more than any other, gave yellow the game.

One of my instructors at the SoC Training course Suggested to me that, normally we should hold onto our spoils until we have all five spoils in hand. Obviously this is good strategy in an escalating spoils game for the simple reason that if anyone turns in their spoils before you do then you receive more troops on your trade then if you were to be the first one to trade them in.

It is like stocks and bonds when they mature and you hold on to them longer they gain more interest and you get more money for holding them longer when you do trade them in for cash. It's always a risk because you just never know when the bottom will drop out from the stocks and bonds market and you are left holding the bag. But with out any risk taking there are no gains. right?

So, I am in this game and it is in round 09 and every one has like 4 or 5 spoils and I have 3 spoils and they are a set but since I am one of the weakest and do not wish to be eliminated for my spoils, per the suggestion of an instructor, I traded in my spoils for some 30 troops, make a soft attack in order to get another spoils and ended my turn. I'm thinking "yeah, I can make a killing in this market on my next turn if certain players with only four spoils do not have any trade in's yet."

So I tune in just to see who did what to whom when I learn that the fourth player next in turn eliminated 3 players in a single move. My mouth is open, my eyes are wide and I am in shock to see that this fourth player practically conquered the whole world, overnight. WOW! Only myself and another player who only had 3 spoils were left on the table but our troops were cut down to practically nothing. Where I had some 77 troops on the board when I ended my turn, I now had only 20 in just one region. This is the problem when everyone has 4 and or 5 spoils to trade in.

This fourth player had the spoils to eliminate just one player and then used his spoils to eliminate the second player in the same turn and then used that second players spoils to eliminate the third players and then uses that third players spoils to seriously weaken the remaining two players, myself being the strongest of the two.

This is very good strategy by the way! I and the other player simply did not have enough spoils to be considered big enough of a target right from the start, yet the others had 4 and 5 spoils and fell like dominoes; One after another.

So I would like to put the question out there for any and all, Teachers and students and players of all ages alike, to answer me this question. The question is...

"Just when is it good to hold 'em' and when is it bad? After what number of trade in's should one not strive to gain the most for their spoils under what kind of situation and circumstances?"

Hello again my friends, and welcome to your favorite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments!

This is the 3rd anniversary of the CC Dispatch, and in celebration I have produced a little retrospective on the evolution of the War Games section. However, it is not the lead article! The lead article definitely has to be plurple's article on the Prime awards, for 2011's best tournaments. Speaking of the Primes, nominations have now closed, and voting has begun. A special subforum has been created for the voting process, you can get to it here: http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=678YOU ONLY HAVE TWO WEEKS TO VOTE so get in there promptly!

DaveH has provided us with not one but two (!) installments in his Tournament Tips series, sensfan has produced another excellent installment of TPA Wrap, fuzzy316 interviews one of the winningest tournament players in CC history (shoop76) and NoSurvivors continues our longest-running series, Join This? Or Not! Enjoy!

First of all I think I need to spell out what the Primes are. They are the contest for the "tournament organiser of the year - 2011" it is a set of awards for tournaments that started and finished in 2011 with 16 categories plus 2 special awards for tournament organiser of the year and tournament organiser career awards. The different categories are as follows:

Best Small Tournament

Best Mid-Sized Tournament

Best Large Tournament

Best Huge Tournament

Best Terminator Tournament

Best Assassin Tournament

Best 1 v 1 Tournament

Best Doubles Tournament

Best Triples Tournament

Best Quadruples Tournament

Best Large-Team Tournament

Best International Tournament

Best Speed Tournament

Best Mixed Tournament

Best Sports League Tournament

Best Tournament Series

Most Creative/Innovative Tournament

The nominations were open to the public till the 31st of January; anyone could nominate a tournament as long as they had a valid reason for nominating it and in each category there will be a gold, silver and bronze award. Unfortunately all of the awards are fictional and not medals. All organisers that are awarded a gold award will be automatically submitted into the "tournament organiser of the year" award.

The tournament organiser of the year award: all gold winning members from the prime awards above will automatically be entered plus any members of the tournament organisers usergroup can nominate any other tournament organisers that they think should also be considered for the award. There will be a gold, silver and bronze prime award for the tournament organiser of the year as well as the gold winning member getting a general achievement medal as well. The award will be scored by the tournament organisers in 18 categories:

Amount of tournaments

Creativity in tournaments

Diversity in tournaments

Presentation of tournaments

Organization of tournaments

Updating tournaments

Amount of abandoned tournaments

Amount of rescued tournaments

Amount of co-hosted tournaments

Helping out new TOs with their tournaments

Providing answers/solutions to questions/problems of fellow TOs

Providing suggestions to improve tournaments

Providing General Achievement Medals in tournaments

Attracting new players to tournaments

Retaining happy players in their tournaments

Problem solving in their tournaments

Communicating in their tournaments

Positive influence on the tournament community

Each category will be scored as follows0 = Not applicable/Don’t know1 = Very Poor2 = Poor3 = Reasonable4 = Good5 = Very Good6 = ExcellentThe best 3 and worst 3 scores an organiser receives will be removed and there scores for the 12 that remain will be used to work out who will win this award.

The last award in the prime award is the "tournament organiser career award" that will be nominated by the tournament organisers for the tournament organiser that they feel has had the most positive effect on CC tournaments over the years.

Well, today is the third anniversary of the CC Dispatch. There has been a Tournaments section of one kind or another since the beginning, except for one brief hiatus. But actually, we are older than the Dispatch, because the Tournaments section can trace its lineage back even further, to Gozar's original CC Tournaments Newsletter, first launched in November of 2007.

This November, when the 5th Anniversary of Gozar's newsletter comes around, I plan to do a full article about it, but for now I will touch on it only briefly. Gozar's newsletter ran for an amazing 87 issues, most of them weekly. This was all before my time, but sometimes when I'm exploring the archives I look through some of his early editions, and it's a fascinating snapshot of the early CC tournament world. Anyone who is interested in the evolution of the CC Tournament as a species, how various rules were arrived at, and how things changed over the years, should have a look. Gozar's newsletter was by all accounts a happening place throughout all of 2008, and response was overwhelmingly positive. In 2009, however, it began to decline, and its decline accelerated in the summer of '09 when Gozar retired. sailorseal tried briefly to keep it going, but by September of 2009 it ceased to operate.

The direct ancestor of the CC Dispatch was the Conquer Club NEWS. This was launched by samuelc812 on February 2nd 2009, three years ago today. From the very beginning it had its own Tournament section, written by thenobodies80 who is now Foundry Foreman.

In Issue 11 of the CC News, the Tournaments section was repainted from its earlier red headline colour to the GOLD colour that we still use in our Executive signature (but no longer in headlines.) In the summer of 2009, Night Strike took over from thenobodies80 as Tournament reporter. Night Strike only held the position for 3 issues, before turning it over to Mad Pineapples. Mad Pineapples was the shortest-lived Tournaments executive of all, lasting only one issue, Issue 16. Ironically enough, that was a fantastic issue, beautifully written, but it was the swan song for the Tournaments section of the CC News. Adding to the tragedy, the Tournaments section of the CC NEWS died almost simultaneously with Gozar's newsletter. The last issues were September 3rd and September 13th, respectively. Darkness descended across the land, and for the remainder of 2009 no Tournaments articles were published anywhere on CC.

In January of 2010 the NEWS was reconstituted as the CC Dispatch. To go with its new name it also had a new look and a new executive structure. The Tournaments section was re-launched under its current name, War Games, with Night Strike once again at the helm, assisted by amazzony, colton24 and soon others, like superkeener. This arrangement lasted until the summer, when Sir. Ricco was appointed to the post. Sir. Ricco put away his quill in October, and for a couple of issues War Games was half-heartedly run by JoshyBoy.

Issue 40 was another major change of direction. It was the last issue with articles by long-standing contributors Night Strike and amazzony, but the first issue with jricart as War Games executive. jricart recruited a completely new crew, including soldierboy, General Brewsie, angola, sonicsteve, and myself.

(It's fascinating how subjective our perceptions can be. When I volunteered for the Dispatch on December 28th, 2010, only five days had passed since jricart had taken over. But from my perspective jricart was the only War Games executive I had ever known. I considered him "the" executive and not until much later did I start learning about how many others had come before.)

In September of 2011 jricart resigned and I had the thrill of taking over this section. Since then, I am happy to report, we have continued to grow, and I have been joined by DaveH, WorldCup4James, fuzzy316, NoSurvivors, sensfan, and plurple. Our section is bigger and better than ever. I continue to be delighted by the work these guys are producing, even while I pause to respect all our fore-runners.

Names in bold have been part of more than one incarnation of the Tournaments newsletters. Many of the above also wrote for other parts of the newsletter. These are not specially credited here; I have only researched participation in the Tournament section. Only Night Strike has written for all three incarnations.

A special look at our longest-running feature:

The longest-running feature is Join This? Or Not! currently being written by NoSurvivors. It was first launched by amazzony in Issue 34 of the DIspatch. Amazzony carried the torch until Issue 40. Issue 41 saw a one-time appearance by jleonn. There was a brief interruption for Issue 42, and then from 43 to 45 it was written by soldierboy. There was a second interruption in Issue 46, and then in Issue 47 I covered it for soldierboy (assuming that his absence was temporary, although it turned out to be permanent). From Issue 48 to 60 we had a long period of stability when the the series was written by sonicsteve, with only one absence (54) that I covered. Issue 61 and 62 again saw an interruption, and then in Issue 63 NoSurvivors took up the torch.

Even by this simple reckoning, NoSurvivors is the sixth in a noble line! But wait, there's more! Join This? Or Not! had historical antecedents.

A series called Current Signups was part if the original Conquer Club Newsletter, long before it was renamed the "Dispatch." In fact, it was present right from Issue 1!, back on February 2nd, 2009. For the first 13 issues it was written by the first Tournaments reporter thenobodies80.

In Gozar's newsletter, the antecedent of Join This? Or Not! was called Currently Taking Signups, written sometimes by publishers Gozar and sailorseal, but more often by "recruiting editors" greenoaks, Gilligan, and eventually jricart.

After the dark days of September 2009, and the rebirth of January 2010, there was an effort to revive the Currently Taking Signups tradition, first by colton24 in Issue 23 (Tournaments Still Recruiting) and then by superkeener. Superkeener started in Issue 24, naming his series In Please, but then renamed it to the much more prosaic Currently Taking Signups from Issue 25 to 28. (Personally, I believe strongly that he should have stayed with the first title.)

Then, in Issue 29, after the Tournaments Tab was added to the homepage, it was thought that having a recruitment section in the newsletter was redundant. Night Strike announced the death of Currently Taking Signups series with a depressing one-line obituary: "With the new Tournament Database, this section of the article should no longer be needed since everyone can just check the tab at the top of every CC page." Thus it lay in its coffin, until Issue 34 when amazzony breathed fresh life into it, and gave it the current name!

Taking the antecedents into account, NoSurvivors is the 14th to carry the torch!

Hello again everyone! This month I have the distinct pleasure of bringing a special interview with this issue's Tournament Winner. Recently this player became a member of a very elite club, matched so far by only one other CC tournament player, HighlanderAttack. He currently holds the spot for 2nd most tournament victories. Earlier this month he became only the 2nd person to win his 100th tournament, which, if you think about it, is a staggering number to win. Let's give a great big hand to shoop76!

There are many tournaments out there and many players take part in them, but to actually win 100 tournaments, WOW what a feat. I myself have been playing for a few years and only managed to win two so far. With the KISS Champion of Champions tourney win, did you realize that this was your 100th tournament win when you actually won this tournament?Thank you. Yeah it is something I keep track of very closely. I talk to HighlanderAttack almost every day and he mentions it to me as well. He somehow thinks I am a threat to him. Like I am ever going to catch him. 267 tourney titles now that is an achievement.

You won this tournament due to your having won multiple qualifying spots to enter this tournament and then by advancing and winning both of the semi-final match-ups against your competitors, one the aforementioned HA, and the other EBConquer. Taking a look at the actual tournament path you used to win, how did it feel to not have to actually win a final?

Definitely nice to win both semis. HA and EBConquer are both great players so to not have to play a final against either of them was great. With the multiple entries though, it kind of felt like those 2 matches were my final.

Yes they are definitely worthy adversaries and great players, as I myself have come to experience. Obviously having won this many tourneys, you are an avid tournament player. Do you have specific tournaments that you look for with particular settings, or do you look at a tournament and join it based on its organizer, or how the tourney is put together, etc?

I had a time where I would join pretty much anything. That resulted in my game count getting out of hand and cc interfering in real life. Now I look for the simple 1 v 1 tourneys and am a lot more selective not that good at I avoid it.

I have had the game overload a time or two myself. How is it you have been able to win so many tourneys? Any tips on what to do to accomplish this level of mastery?

Play a lot of them for one thing, and have a great knowledge of a wide variety of maps. Everyone here has their own goals. For some it is to become conqueror or be part of the top clan; for me it is winning tournaments. My best advice is to join tourneys that are quick and to join ones that you will enjoy and are on maps that you are good at. For me if I play maps and tourneys I don’t like it just takes away from the fun of cc.

Do you have any memorable wins that really stand out among all the tournaments you have joined, regardless of if you won the tournament or not?

The first one that I won: Hitman Europe and the team tourneys I have won especially, 2009 NCAA Track & Field Championships that I won with Witt13, dcc1220, & The Mantis. Also any tourney that I beat HA in the final, although he has historically owned me in semis and finals.

I definitely tend to get owned myself most of the time from HA. Occasionally I get to beat him in a game. What got you started playing here on CC in the first place? Did you stumble on the site? Were you looking for a strategy game online? A friend perhaps?

Actually my brother, oneeyedjackz, introduced me to the site. He never really played that much though, but sure got me addicted.

Awesome addiction though. A friend and former co-worker introduced me to the site. How long have you been playing at games like this, and what got you interested in them to begin with?

Never really been that much in to board games. They usually take too long to finish if they wind up finishing at all. Played a lot of cards growing up though. I am a very competitive person so games like this really interest me especially here when you can play so many at once.

I love to play cards, Texas Hold'em fan here myself. I know what you mean about the games taking long. Used to play Axis and Allies with friends and one time we pulled a marathon game that we literally played for 19 hours straight before taking a break and finishing it on the next day. Have you created and run many tournaments? If not, do you have the desire to?

I have run a couple of tournaments. They were all small. I didn’t really enjoy it. Felt like it was a chore updating them. I have some ideas for bigger tournaments but not sure if I will get the desire to put in the effort. I really admire all these organizers that do such a great job running their tournaments.

I definitely know how much work goes in to creating and updating tourneys. I currently have my 50th in sign-ups, and although it can be time consuming, I find it both challenging and relaxing at the same time. Do you have any favorite Tournament Organizers?

There are a lot of great tournament organizers and I don’t want to upset anyone for leaving them out. HA always tries to push the envelope and come up with great new concepts. Greenoaks and merch313 are running 2 of my favorite series. But I would have to say flexmaster33 is still my favorite especially his NCAA basketball tournament. The amount of work he puts into it is amazing and then still doing all the updates so quickly.

I agree with your analysis of flex's NCAA tourney, and what it takes to run that one, being in the midst of running a league tourney myself right now. Do you know how many tournaments you have actually joined, in regards to the number you have won?

I have no idea, but it would be cool if they would update the databases so you could search that. I have played in 15,657 tourney games. Not sure if that is something to be proud of.

Hehe... your tourney game count alone is more than double my entire game count. What is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything?

Can we skip this one?

Nope, sorry, the answer is 42. What are your 3 most favorite maps and settings for them?

Wow, there is many these days. Treasures of Galapagos for 1 v 1 games, No spoils, chained and foggy. I love World 2.1 for multi-player games as long as it is not escalating. I guess I have something for those games that never end. The random one is always interesting as I feel my overall map knowledge is stronger than most, even though that is becoming less of a factor with all the new maps coming out.

What are your hobbies outside of the CC arena?

My wife and 2 kids keep me busy most of the time. Used to play a lot of online poker but really don’t have the time anymore. I do like to watch sports and play fantasy football.

What do you like most about tournament play? The competition. Seeing if you can go from start to finish and be the last one standing. Dislikes? Making it to a final and losing because I had a bad drop or bad dice.

What do you like most about regular game play?

They don’t really interest me that much. Its 1 game and its over. Especially with the point structure the way it is takes the fun out of winning a normal game.

Thank you very much for your time spent with us after this historic win. Once again, congratulations and good luck on trying to catch HA.

Hey Fuzzy thank you very much. Please don’t wait to 200 to hit me up again.

In edition #62, Sensfan gave an overview of the easiest format of a tournament which is a 16 player single elimination tournament i.e.

Click image to enlarge.

Player A plays Player B in game 1 and the winner goes through to game 9, meeting the winner of game 2 between players C and D etc.

In this edition I will give you a few tips on making the management of such a tournament as easy as possible. Obviously you can use Challonge as previously mentioned, though you may want to have your own "tree" image which also gives the game numbers.However, whereas the graphical "tree" format as above gives a very clear illustration of players progress through the tournament, it is not the easiest format to use in managing the various invites etc. For instance the following format is better to use:

Let's consider that you want to link both spreadsheets so that, by updating the table, the graphical representation is automatically updated.

Let's consider the table first. The players' names are copied (or automatically looked-up as I have explained previously) from your randomised player list into the table with the game numbers. When the winning player's name is copied in, then that can automatically be copied into their next game match-up. For instance if A wins game 1, then cell F4 holds his name and cell C12 needs to have that player's name for his game 9 match. Cell C12 can therefore have the text "=F4" in it to automatically insert the name. However, this will insert a "0" if there is no name in F4, so a better formula is "=IF(F4="","",F4)" which inserts a blank instead of "0".

OK so you can complete the table so that the games are all automatically inserted. Of course, you can also do the same for the graphical "tree"! Let's assume you have created this on sheet2 of your spreadsheet. You can then go through this spreadsheet and change the player references to link to the table in sheet1. For instance cell B4 on sheet2 contains "=sheet1!C4" and so on for the players and then the winners. Now you can put in the games numbers - for instance cell B5 on sheet1 contains ="Game "&Sheet1!E4. And so on. Yes it's quite a bit of work, but if you are wanting to run a series of games using the same format, it will be well worth it!

If you want to know how to copy your graphical tree into your tournament thread then you simply take a picture of the tree by pressing your PrtSch (print screen) button; open "Paint" or another similar programme and paste the image into it. You can move the image so that the top left corner is positioned correctly and you need to save it as a ".jpg" image. To crop off the right and bottom irrelevant parts of the image, I use Microsoft Office Picture Manager and then upload it to ImageShack or other free image repository site. (I am sure there must be an easier way, though, if anyone wants to let me know it!)

I have created a template that can be used for single elimination tournaments that can be viewed at the following address:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhVfEnhd4J0cdGJDZFZTa0tPTFIyS0pFU0Z1ejZJQmc&hl=en_GB#gid=0It has 3 sheets; the first to insert the players' names and then sort into a random order; the second is the spreadsheet tracking progress, with invites and progress lists to make it easier to update the tournament thread; the third is the above "tree" that can be used if you want a graphical representation of the progress. Note that these documents do not display exactly as in Excel, so you need to look at each cell to see its entire contents, should they be m,asked by the next column.

(These "tips" are ones that I have tried to make it a bit easier in managing my own tournaments. I am sure there are many different and better methods than these, so please let me know. Any queries on the above I'll be glad to respond to!)

If you scan through the list of available tournaments, you will find all kinds of inventive game formats. There are the straight elimination tournaments, with 1, 3 or 5 games to find the winner. Obviously the more the number of games played per round, the less the opportunity for lucky deployments and dice to play a part in the result.

In the last editions Sensfan and I looked at single eliminations and round-robin tournaments. In this I look at double elimination tournaments and I'll be giving you a few hints on managing them.

The easiest way of creating a double elimination style tournament is to double the number of entrants; for instance, in a 16 player tournament you enter each opponent twice as though you had 32 players. Once you randomise your player list and assign them to games there is, of course, the possibility that a player will be playing himself, so you need to say that in this circumstance he will go through automatically to the next round - losing one of his "lives"!

You can also have a double elimination tournament which is made easier by using Challonge.com. If you lose one match you then have a second chance of winning. Dazza, though, in one of his tournament series, has made it even more interesting by entering each player twice, so there are 4 chances of winning - hence his "double-double" series title!

Click image to enlarge.

Of course you can always enter each player "n" times into a single elimination type format game (as in deantursx's 1v1 Random Multi-Entry tournament with 4 entries per player). However the advantage with the double or triple elimination format used in Challonge is that, once eliminated, you rejoin at an appropriate position in the tournament rather than at the start.

You don't have to use Challonge though. You can create your own double elimination tournament and manage it using Excel. For instance:The "tree" is the same as in a single elimination tree, where Player1 plays Player2 in Game A etc. However, there is a "second chance" option which is as follows:In this, the losers of games F and E battle it out to play against the loser of game I; and so on.

And, of course, there are various related options that you can try. Butters1919, for instance, has used his own results table in his series of triple knock-out tournaments:

Click image to enlarge.

Doesn't it look lovely! Note the way he used colour coding for the number of lives lost. (As the runner-up from this particular tournament, the downside to this format is that Leintz and I seemed to be playing each other an inordinate number of times!)Sometime, we'll have to find out how he produced the image and any hints on how he managed it.

(These "tips" are ones that I have tried to make it a bit easier in managing my own tournaments. I am sure there are many different and better methods than these, so please let me know. Any queries on the above I'll be glad to respond to!)

And now for our regular look at a selection of the tournaments in sign-ups:

1. MC's 100th Tournament!!My number one pick this week is MC's 100th. With premium to the winner, and A PLAYER CHOSEN RANDOMLY (who has joined, of course) get 3 months premium each! Plus, it is on the random map, so there is not a big advantage, and no one is eliminated until the end! So if you want to help mcshanester29 celebrate his 100th tourney, join this one!

2. NCAA WrestlingMy number two pick this week is a unique one. It's based on a wrestling league which I had never seen before, so it intrigued me! You pick the school you want to represent and fight your way (funny how that works ) to the top! So if you're a fan of wrestling, join NCAA Wrestling!

3. DKs Best of 2011 I - No SpoilsMy number 3 pick this week, comes from the Tournament Team's own Duckasaur! It has a variety of maps, and the person first eliminated from each game is out, the rest get to enjoy the game and move on! The finals is all of the maps, and the tourney is decided by a point system, which is explained on the page. Also, a GA medal is awarded for most wins after 8 rounds! So if you're up for a challenge, join DKs Best of 2011 I - No Spoils!

3. Woopin's 8th - All Your Bases Are Belong To UsMy number 4 is interesting this week, considering I think the map it's on, and its concept, are both things I don't do much; play the map, or play quads willingly! However, this is a tourney where you sign up solo, and for the first 3 rounds, you play quadruples games, where you are randomly assigned a team, and the winning team moves on! The finals is a standard game. So if you're interested in learning a new map, or to hone your skills on All Your Bases, sign up for Woopin's 8th!

5. InnyaFacce :: Feudal Epic Multi DoublesMy number 5 is a quads/dubs tourney. Taking place on the Feudal Epic map (a much loved map here on CC), there's much fun to be had! How this works, is the teams will be split into brakets, and each team plays 6 dubs and a quads game! So if youre interested in some mixed teams, grab your buds and join the Feudal Epic Multi Doubles tourney, hosted by InnyaFacce!

Welcome to the 4th edition of the TPA Wrap. It has been a noisy fortnight in both TPA1 and TPA2, with more scores coming in, a new TPA2 leader, and a projection from the TPA Wrap of the winner of TPA1.

TPA 1 HeadlinesTPA Season 1: WrapThe following are as of January 26th, 2012.We are coming down to a close finish, and I have been waiting to project a victory, and here is how it stands. MudPuppy has a shot at victory in 2, maybe three tournaments, sonicsteve looking good in two of them. It is still very much a close race, and I will not make a projection this issue. Possibly the next one.

TPA 2 Headlines

TPA Season 2: Completed TournamentsThe following are as of January 26th, 2012.

We have three more tournaments finished, with the first Major of the year completed:World Cup Format Doubles II (by Lindax)The first major of the year has finished.The winners are Barterer2002 and dtellis, who won a comfortable victory in the first major of the tournament. Winning High Seas and Carribean Islands and Holy Roman Empire (the clincher) in a five game series sent them to the victory zone.

Tellis and Bart did not have a series defeat, going undefeated through the second installment of Lindax's World Cup Format Doubles. They both win 2000 points atop the TPA2 scoreboard.

Timminz and Bones2484 finished in second.

Bruceswar Escalating TerminatorFinally, this escalating singles tournament has come to a close. In Hong Koing, Deng Xiao Ping claimed victory, eliminating all 5 of his couterparts in one round. With gameplayer taking France, deantursx winning the British Isles, and Tripitaka scoring on Classic, all eyes were on Africa. Gameplayer cashed in a massive set for 55 troops, took out Enormastitz, won a set cashing in 60 troops, then slaying Deng Xiao Ping, and getting two more sets for 65 and 70 troops. Taking out Tripitaka, he earned a massive 75 troop set, and he made the final kill.2012-01-14 01:15:20 - gameplayer assaulted Liberia from Guinea and conquered it from deantursx2012-01-14 01:15:20 - gameplayer eliminated deantursx from the game2012-01-14 01:15:20 - gameplayer won the game

With two wins, gameplayer won this Standard Tournament.

So, you wanna be a Pirate?This tournament has been a fun one to watch, and the final round has gone Tripitaka's way. He wins 3 out of 5 games, winning on British Isles, Carribean Isles and Hong Kong. Keiths31 has won Poker Club, but it is too little, too late.

TPA 1 Standings

MudPuppy and Sonicsteve continue to pull ahead of the remaining TPA1 contestants.

TPA 2 Standings

Barterer2002 is in the lead, with a ten point lead over dtellis. The two played together in the first major tournament of the year. Leehar falls down to 9th place.

Paparazzi's Corner Program NoticeSorry, guys, didn't have time this issue. But I will be interviewing others next issue!

In Conclusion...On this CC Dispatch anniversary, sonicsteve is in the lead of TPA1, with MudPuppy trying to catch up. Can he do it? Or will the odds prevail? And, in TPA2, Barterer2002 is on top! With a major and two standard tournaments completed, it's sure that we will have an exciting TPA2 season to come!

Until next time, when you can expect:Predictions? Yep.Breaking News? Right here.Opinion? Got some.

Have a happy fortnight!Sensfan

Hey there, folks! Well, it's actually Sully again. Hippo missed the wagon this issue, I guess, so here I am! At any rate, koontz has us covered again with another "What's Where" and "Foundry News". Hippo will be back next issue, however

Lets see what's where in the foundry today.Drafting RoomSlovakia by DiM now has its 24 territs so will be moved soon.Fragmentation of CSFR is by Oneyed. A new small map for us all.Inca Empire by sannemanrobinsonAfter 3 kingdoms, we get the modern version of the Korean Peninsula by Industrial Helix.Sweden is stickied so will also be moved soonish.Following on the heels of London a swarm of classic cities have been introduced to the foundry this week.Perth by cairnswk.Sydney, also by cairnswk. Both follow his ~Port Morsby map in the main foundry.Buenos Aires by koontz1973 follows his Jakarta map in the main foundry.Lastly in the drafting room - Devils and Angels.Main Foundry1982 about the Falklands conflict has been stickied so will be gone over with a fine tooth comb by everyone and there mother for a few days.Dark Continent (Colonial Africa) by TheBisonKing is looking mighty fine right now.Jakarta is looking for the game play stamp. Copenhagen sightseeing by FlapCake is looking for game play ideas right now. natty_dread take on wizard wars.Philadelphia by RedBaron0 has come back to life this week.MegaUSA is back in the main foundry. Brought to us by isaiah40, inspired by the Widowmakers USA map pack.After all of the harsh words from both sides of the debate, dana1971 seems to of had some inspiration with the help of thenobodies (foundry foreman) and it seems he is going to go about redrawing his map from scratch. So this might be the last time we see the cow in its current state. Should be interesting to see what idea dana can come up with.Final ForgeThe final forge has 6 maps in it now (apart from the beta played maps). Only one of those has got the xml stamp, so while we all wait for those, lets have a look.

Not a lot this week but one great piece of news , 3 good news and one down right bummer of a piece.

Congrats to natty_dread for bringing this one home.

Click image to enlarge.

London by natty_dread, Patch wars by Dim and Cuban missile crisis by Ace Rimmer have all entered the beta phase. Hope you are all liking what you play.

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

Only one other thing this week. Rorke's Drift has been taken out of play. No new games can be created on this map and all existing games will have an imposed 20 round limit onto them. This is so a new map image and xml can be put into play. The existing map has 91 regions but the new one only has 90. How will this effect existing games? No one knows, including our founder and foundry foreman. Lets hope this comes back soon and the new game works.Here is the new image with the missing territ. As for gameplay changes, some neutrals have been raised, some lowered. The killer neutrals have been removed. The winning condition has been changed. Some bombardments have been added. So lots to look forward to.

Happy gaming everyone, whatever map takes your fancy.

Welcome to another exciting edition on the latest news on the clan scene, as we also celebrate the 3rd Anniversary for the newsletter.

We have a cracker of a section in store, and first up on the agenda is an overview of the 4th Season of the Clan league, by the Tournaments director DJ Teflon, and then we have an exciting competition in store for Clan Aficionado's as we offer more than a year's worth of Premium + assorted other prizes in our Competition Purse!Thereafter Alt1978 returns to the Dispatch team after a short hiatus, with a preview of The All Comers Cup Final, and we have an exclusive regular monthly section to offer our readers as the much vaunted F400 officially unveils it's column in this edition of the newsletter, courtesy of the services of Gunn217QuikSilver also starts a new column on the recruitment usage of Clan Training Grounds.

With the number of participating clans, this year's clan league promises to be a very interesting tournament for the clan community

As determined democratically by the CLA, the league involves four phases: Phase One involves divisions of clans of mixed rank. Finishing positions in these divisions then determine clans' progression into ranked divisions in further phases. From Phase Two to Phase Four, each division will gradually reduce in numbers until we eventually have a winner for each of 5 divisions.

With this ambitious format, it was clear that timescales for each phase would need to be adhered to strictly in order for the league to progress smoothly, on time, and for divisions to work in synchronisation. We therefore decided that Division Directors would be in charge of making games and ensuring clans in their division adhere to rules and weekly deadlines.

We are hoping to give the event a corporate and professional feel - as well as the Division Directors, we have worked hard to create a user-friendly navigation system. The clan community can easily navigate through the relevant threads using graphical links, as well as to find individual game details by clicking the scores of individual rounds.

Of course, the tournament is at a very early stage, once results start to be decided, the level of interest already shown will quickly intensify see the efforts, emotions, banter and competitiveness of clan leaders and clan players make the event come truly alive!

We would like to thank our Division Directors, merch313, benga, TheCrown and Tokle, for their hard work. Without them the League would not be possible. And most importantly, thanks to jpcloet for creating, developing, and raising the profile of the league over the last three seasons.

Good luck to all, and look-out for an additional bonus event coming soon.

The All Comers Cup has generated a ton of fantastic matchups through the course of the tournament…and has done an amazing job of getting clans that would have most unlikely never have locked horns to engage in some intense battles. The ACC Finals are drawing to a climatic finish with Dynasty squaring away against the Bretheren of the Fat Mermaid. Almost seven months ago, 25 clans started the journey to the finals in a clan tournament that as it’s nomenclature suggests…welcomed all clans who were interested. The journey for each clan to the finals has been arduous and unique…and the winner will be able to lay claim to conquering one of the most prestigious clan tournaments put together outside of the Conquer’s Cup.

Dynasty is the only clan who made the final four who had to play their way into the field in a preliminary first round. After defeating a tough KOA squad…Dynasty knocked off the Black Sheep Squadron before pulling one the biggest shockers of the tournament…notching an upset of LOW. They then battled through an inspired M&M squad to reach the finals of what has most assuredly been a coming out party for the Dynasty clan. To complete the journey…they will have to knock off the Bretheren of the Fat Mermaid. BotFM knocked of Soldiers of War to start their trip to the finals and followed that up with another win over Legion. That win set the stage for a titanic show down with FOED that would come down the wire. By the virtue of FOED running out of rounds in a Hive game…BotFM advanced to the finals of the ACC despite FOED’s ultimate winning of more games in the challenge. Regardless of the technicalities…BotFM announced that the close call against TOFU in the CC CUP 2 was no fluke and that they can hang with a top tier clan such as FOED game for game. Dynasty will again don the cloak of the underdog in this match up, but it’s a label they have worn comfortably throughout the entire ACC. It will be interesting to see if BotFM has enough in the tank after their struggle with FOED to keep a Dynasty from being crowned…or if the Mermaid’s goat…worn out and wasted after that last battle…will be able to help BotFM come again out on top.

I've been questioning myself for a while, how do CC clans recruit? How do they find goods players that haven't played in a clan yet or are kind of new to CC. I often see a specific forum group for recruiting. Like Underworld for MYTH and The Barracks for LEG. I was first planning to write an article about that type of group. As my research went on, I saw a lot to write about, so I decided to make a series of articles about this subject. At first we'll pay attention to the Underworld of MYTH.

While sending to all leaders of MYTH a pm if they were interested to answer all my questions, they answered me with a whole text. So complete was the response I didn't want to change anything at all.

Landain wrote:The Process of gaining access to Mythology through the Underworld:

The Underworld consists of mentors and prodigies. Prodigies are new members wishing to join Mythology. These are generally people who are newer to the game and need to learn a few things before they are permitted entry into Mythology. The Mentors are members of Mythology who show an interest in teaching younger CC members how to play various maps in Conquer Club.

The intent is to produce CC players who are team players and understand the basics of the Conquer Club maps. Each prodigy is assigned a mentor to work with while in the Underworld. Each mentor has their own style of going about this. For me personally, I prefer to play three to five standard Classic 1v1 games with the new member to get a feel for their play style. I usually get a feel for whether the person is a good candidate for Mythology from these first few games.

Once I have a solid idea what sort of player I am dealing with, I will set up several dubs and trips matches on maps I feel strongly about. I teach the prodigy my strategy and the fundamentals of teamwork as it applies to Conquer Club. This may include reinforcing your partners or taking out an opponent who is threatening a team mate, but it definitely includes communication. Having every member communicate what they are trying to accomplish.

Initially, the conversations are fairly one-sided with the mentor doing most of the talking (writing). As the prodigy becomes comfortable with a map & settings, then the conversation becomes two-sided. How long a member remains in the Underworld depends on the prodigy and his mentor's perception of his abilities. Some players join the Underworld with the wrong expectations and quickly fall to the wayside. Others really get into it, make the most of their experience and have fun. A few have even advanced as rapidly as two months from the Underworld and into Mythology. Most will spend several months in the training alliance.

Really interesting but I wanted more precision about some points, so I sent out the questions on the points I was still curious on.

How many clan members do you have?Do you have a limit of players allowed in the clan? To keep it under controlWe currently have 39 members in Mythology, generally speaking we don't ever have more than 45, most of the time we stay under 40 but there is no set amount in our guidelines.

About the underworld:

Does every new member go to the underworld or do some get a by-pass?Not sure i understand this one, "by-pass" what do you mean by that?(They answer it in the following question)

How much time do they spend on the underworld before getting refused/accepted (on average)?It varies, we've had some people come straight into myth without going to the underworld at all, some joined myth after being in the underworld for only a month or two, and some have been there since the beginning and may never get out

In average, how many new members do you get each month? year?We don't really have an average per month, if CC members show an interest in joining we add them, or we may recruit a person or two. At this time myth is pretty full so we're very selective right now on who gets in, but getting into the underworld is pretty easy

Would you recommend the creation of a similar group for each competitive clan?Absolutely, a training ground for prospective clan members is a fantastic way of judging there skill level's, there communication skills and how they will fit in with your core members

These kind of group are really interesting, like a social group we can see if we like the player and judge him not only by his gameplay but his attitude also. I love also the fact that they don't refuse anyone, so every player have a chance to prove himself to make MYTH clan. Some players just need to be teach and learn fast, so they keep those players are create a solid bond. So even if they have close to 40 players, they pretty much know each other and play a lot of games together.

Next issue we'll pay attention to the LEG group, the Barracks. Some mentalities about these groups are very similar while others have a divergence of vision.

We're seeing some major change in the mid levels of this month's rankings. The Pirates move up a spot with a win over FOED in the ACC. The Foreskins drop 5 spots and out of the top 20 with a loss to Benga's One Step Ahead who, in turn, picks up 3 spots. G1 also drops 6 spots to number 22 after a bit of an upset loss to Angels of Death. Dynasty has cracked the top 20 due to a couple of strong wins in the last couple of months. I can speak from experience as I've had a little singles battle with WPBRJ that DYN is a clan that is going to be a tough battle right now. Nemesis also drop out of the ranking from their top 20 spot after their Social Usergroup Conversion, while The Headless Horsemen are the new addition to the ranking entering in at #33 after they pass the minimum 150 weighting requirement

I'm sure there will be some questions as to why clans drop or rise from month to month even if they haven't had results release. This is due in part to the challenges losing weight as time goes on. So a huge win for a clan 20 months ago and a recent loss to a lower ranked clan would explain a sharp drop in the ranking. Challenges over 2 years old do not count at all.

Clan League 4 Contest

Sign up here for the Virtual Clan League. 6 months premium and a General Achievement medal to the winner, and 3 months premium and a General Achievement medal for both 2nd and 3rd place Contestants, while additional 3 months prize premium is available if competition entries surpass all projections and 50+ contestants participate

It's simple. Rank the clans in the order you think they'll finish in phase 1 of the regular season - and then fill in the following table to show all the clans that go out in the respective phases, and finally the winners of Division A, B and C

Entries should be sent by PM to Leehar, but can also be submitted in the thread created for this purpose in the Clans Sub-Forum (though all liability of the use of your competition submission falls on you) Only one entry per player and no duplicate entries will be accepted. Remember we're not counting phase 1 results, but the ultimate outcome for each clan which will only start being decided at the end of Phase 2 whence 18 clans will be eliminated. A point will be given for each correct placing up til Phase 3, while 2 points each for the winners and runners-up in Phase 4Therefore, you'd get 1 point for correctly predicting that OSA (for example) exit the competition in Division B-Phase 2, another if you predicted that IA only exit the competition in Division A-Phase 3 and 2 points if you correctly picked TNC as the winners of Division C.Tie-breakers will be decided on amount of Phase 4 Winners correct.

We'll show everybody's chosen scores after entries are complete, and run updates through the season to let you know how you're doing. Entries close at the end of Wednesday 29th February, but to encourage early entrance, 0.5 points will be penalised per result completed before submission. (As scores are given to clans in their division tables upon completion of their week matches) Do you know your clans? Can you look into your crystal ball and see what the season will bring? Sign up and prove it! See if you can win that premium and the glittery gold thing. Disclaimer: Contest Organizer reserves right to adjust format to correct unforeseen errors, or to increase clarity in explanation

i put mine questions 2 month ago,but then when dispach start,i realised only minor, low priority,and question what can answer almost everybody here will be presented in cc dispach.Question like " what its map foundry?-How many games fremium can play?- What its clan?" and other joke question will be answered. Ofcourse mine question are ignored,and nobody will answer.

qwert wrote:i put mine questions 2 month ago,but then when dispach start,i realised only minor, low priority,and question what can answer almost everybody here will be presented in cc dispach.Question like " what its map foundry?-How many games fremium can play?- What its clan?" and other joke question will be answered. Ofcourse mine question are ignored,and nobody will answer.

That's not true, qwert. It just means I haven't answered it yet. If you don't like the "joke questions", then post some better ones. I certainly won't be able to ignore you if you post a whole bunch of questions